Saturday, July 12, 2014

Stitchy stuff

The other weekend I had the good fortune to spend time up in the mountains with some knitty friends.  It's an annual get together and always a lot of fun.  I feel thoroughly spoiled by the end of the weekend - time with good friends, picturesque surroundings, fabulous food, and dedicated craft time.

This year I worked on a pair of felted slippers and my Once Upon a Time cross stitch.

OUAT: 3 little pigs
Isn't this pattern just darling! I wish there were more hours in a day to work on it. I think its going to be beautiful when complete (and a nice addition to Naomi's room).
Speaking of cross stitch, I'm also making slow-but-steady progress on the frosty forest pattern, with the snowman recently completed:

Frosty forest snowman
The felted slippers I worked on over the knitty weekend were for Joe.  His current pair are worn out - big old holes in the bottom of them as a result of much love and wear.  I found some camo yarn in my stash which I thought would be perfect.  Turns out it was anything but... after putting the completed slippers through the wash a few times, the darn things wouldn't felt down to the right size.  It was only at that point that I checked the yarn label to find out that it was not 100% wool.  Doh!  (It wouldn't be so bad, except this is the 2nd time I have done this, this year!  shaking my head... I should know better)  So I went back to the old faithful Brown Sheep lambswool (this is by far my favourite yarn for the felted slippers) and whipped up a second, feltable pair, out of leftovers.  The end results are a little goofy looking, but Joe is pleased with them.  Job done!

Scrappy slippers

These slippers will never win any beauty contests.  But I tell you this... once you've tried a pair there's no turning back.  And be careful who you gift them to - they'll be return customers for life :)))

Speaking of which, my brother had requested a pair with the cross of Saint George (erm, yes, maybe the oddest looking cross of Saint George you've ever seen... but 10 out of 10 for effort though, right?).  And my Sis has requested a pair for her fella.  Finishing those up now.

St George slippers
Ok, back to the weekend at hand.
Have a good one, Sam x